Washington and the American Republic, Vol. 3.

Benson John Lossing

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• Publié par: higaj
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 52
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Washington and the American Republic, Vol.
3., by Benson J. Lossing
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Title: Washington and the American Republic, Vol. 3.
Author: Benson J. Lossing
Release Date: June 24, 2008 [EBook #25889]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASHINGTON ***
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WASHINGTON
AND THE
AMERICAN REPUBLIC
Portrait of Washington (After Stuart)
WASHINGTON
AND THE
AMERICAN REPUBLIC.
BY
Benson J. Lossing,
AUTHOR OF “PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR,” “FIELD-BOOK OF THE
REVOLUTION,” “FIELD-BOOK OF THE WAR OF 1812,” ETC. ETC.
VOLUME III.
NEW YORK:
VIRTUE & YORSTON,
12 DEY STREET.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by VIRTUE &
YORSTON, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.Washington at Valley Forge
Transcriber's Note: The caret (^) has been used to mark subscript in the text
version. A Table of Contents has been added. Obvious printer errors, including
punctuation, have been corrected. All other inconsistencies have been left as
they were in the original.
CONTENTS
PAGE
ILLUSTRATIONS
CHAPTER I. 1
CHAPTER II. 13
CHAPTER III. 32
CHAPTER IV. 40
CHAPTER V. 53
CHAPTER VI. 63
CHAPTER VII. 74
CHAPTER VIII. 92
CHAPTER IX. 103
CHAPTER X. 114
CHAPTER XI. 125
CHAPTER XII. 135
CHAPTER XIII. 147
CHAPTER XIV. 161
CHAPTER XV. 167
CHAPTER XVI. 178
CHAPTER XVII. 192
CHAPTER XVIII. 205
CHAPTER XIX. 219
CHAPTER XX. 230
CHAPTER XXI. 243
CHAPTER XXII. 258
CHAPTER XXIII. 271
CHAPTER XXIV. 283
CHAPTER XXV. 292
CHAPTER XXVI. 307
CHAPTER XXVII. 323
CHAPTER XXVIII. 334
CHAPTER XXIX. 348
CHAPTER XXX. 368
CHAPTER XXXI. 378
CHAPTER XXXII. 390
CHAPTER XXXIII. 417
CHAPTER XXXIV. 435
CHAPTER XXXV. 447
CHAPTER XXXVI. 465
CHAPTER XXXVII. 479
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 491
CHAPTER XXXIX. 501
CHAPTER XL. 517
CHAPTER XLI. 527
CHAPTER XLII. 550
CHAPTER XLIII. 573
CHAPTER XLIV. 584
WASHINGTON MEMORIALS. 605
ANALYTICAL INDEX. 613
ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. III.
Portrait of Washington (After Stuart) FrontispieceWashington at Valley Forge Vignette Title
Washington's Headquarters Near Newburg 7
Entrance of the American Army into New York, November 25, 1783 33
Washington Presiding in the Convention, 1787 63
Portraits of Rufus King, John Dickinson, Gouverneur Morris, Oliver Ellsworth, and John
Rutledge 64
Washington Entering Trenton 87
Reception of President Washington at New York, April 23, 1789 89
Portraits of Commanders Hopkins, Talbot, Paul Jones, Dale, and Barry 295
Portrait of John Adams 472
WASHINGTON.
CHAPTER I.
TOP [Pg 1]WASHINGTON RECEIVES CHEERING NEWS FROM GREENE—SIEGE OF FORT NINETY-SIX—SUCCESS OF PARTISAN CORPS
ELSEWHERE—CAPTURE OF AUGUSTA BY THE AMERICANS—RAWDON APPROACHES NINETY-SIX—GREENE ABANDONS
THE SIEGE—RAWDON RETIRES TO ORANGEBURG FOLLOWED BY GREENE—GREENE ENCAMPS ON THE HIGH HILLS OF
SANTEE—STEWART AND CRUGER AT ORANGEBURG—RAWDON GOES TO ENGLAND—BATTLE AT EUTAW SPRINGS—THE
UPPER COUNTRY IN POSSESSION OF THE AMERICANS—SERVICES OF MARION AND OTHER PARTISANS—BRITISH
CONFINED TO THE SEABOARD—DEATH OF JOHN PARKE CUSTIS—WASHINGTON ADOPTS HIS CHILDREN—WASHINGTON
CO-OPERATES WITH CONGRESS—JOINS THE ARMY ON THE HUDSON—DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY—PROPOSITION TO
MAKE WASHINGTON KING—HIS REBUKE—PEACE MOVEMENTS—WASHINGTON'S CAUTION—JUNCTION OF THE FRENCH
AND AMERICAN ARMIES—EVACUATION OF SAVANNAH AND CHARLESTON.
We have observed, that with the capture of Cornwallis and his army, the War for Independence was virtually1781
ended, but that some blood flowed afterward, and that hostile forces were arrayed against each other for
several months longer, before the two nations agreed to fight no more. Let us take a brief survey of events,
from the siege of Yorktown until the declaration of peace, and the departure of the last British troops from our
shores.
On the evening of the ninth of October, just as Lincoln, having completed the first parallel before Yorktown,
ordered a battery to open upon the British works, Washington received encouraging intelligence from
[Pg 2]General Greene in the far South. Greene was then encamped upon the High Hills of Santee, having, a little
more than a week previous to the date of his letter, been engaged in a bloody battle with the enemy at Eutaw
Springs.
In a former chapter we left Greene on his march to attack Fort Ninety-Six, situated in Abbeville district in
South Carolina, within about six miles of the Saluda river. It was then garrisoned by five hundred and fifty
loyalists, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, of New York. Sumter having cut off all
communication between Camden and Ninety-Six, Cruger had not received Rawdon's orders to join Brown at
Augusta, but remained, and was using every endeavor to strengthen his works.
Greene arrived before Ninety-Six on the twenty-second of May, with less than a thousand regulars and a
few raw militia. Kosciuszko, the brave Pole, was his chief engineer, and under his direction the Americans
commenced making regular approaches, by parallels, for the works were too strong to be taken by assault.
For almost a month the work went on, enlivened by an occasional sortie and skirmish. Then news came that
Lord Rawdon was approaching with a strong force to the relief of Cruger. Greene's troops were full of spirit,
and were anxious to storm the works before his lordship's arrival. Consent was given by the commander, and
on the eighteenth an assault was made, and a bloody contest ensued. The Americans were repulsed, and on
the following day Greene raised the siege and retreated across the Saluda. Rawdon pursued him a short
distance, and, having accomplished the object of his errand, wheeled, and marched toward Orangeburg.
While the siege of Ninety-Six was in progress, partisan corps were elsewhere successful. Lee captured
Fort Galphin, twelve miles below Augusta, and then sent an officer to the latter post to demand its surrender
from Brown. The summons was disregarded, and Lee, Pickens, and Clarke, commenced a siege. It lasted
several days, and on the fifth of June, the fort and its dependencies at Augusta were surrendered to the
[Pg 3]republicans. Lee and Pickens then joined Greene at Ninety-Six, and with him retreated beyond the Saluda.
And now Greene and Rawdon changed their relative positions, the former becoming the pursuer of the
latter, in his march toward Orangeburg. Finding Rawdon strongly entrenched there, Greene deemed it
prudent not to attack him; and the sickly season approaching, he crossed the Congaree with his little army,
and encamped upon the High Hills of Santee, below Camden, where pure air and water might be found in
abundance.
Considering the post at Ninety-Six quite untenable, Rawdon ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger to
abandon it and join him at Orangeburg. There Rawdon was met by Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart, who had
come up from Charleston with an Irish regiment. As Greene had gone into summer-quarters apparently, and
the American partisans were just then quiet, his lordship left all his forces in charge of Stewart, went down to
Charleston, and embarked for Europe to seek the restoration of his health.
Soon after encamping on the High Hills of Santee, Greene detached Sumter with about a thousand light
troops to scour the lower country and beat up the British posts in the vicinity of Charleston. His assistants
were those bold partisans, Lee, Marion, Horry, the Hamptons, and other brave republican leaders, with troops
accustomed to the swamps and sandy lowlands. These performed excellent service in preparing the way for
the expulsion of the enemy from the interior of South Carolina.
Early in August Greene was reinforced by North Carolina troops, under General Sumner; and toward the
close of the month, he broke up his encampment, crossed the Wateree, and marched upon Orangeburg.
Stewart, who had been joined by Cruger, immediately retreated to Eutaw Springs, near the southwest bank of
the Santee, and there encamped. Greene followed, and on the morning of the eighth of September, a very
severe battle commenced. The British were finally expelled from the camp, leaving their tents standing, and
almost everything but their arms behind them.
Greene's troops, unmindful of their commander's orders, had spread themselves through the abandoned
[Pg 4]camp to plunder, eat, and drink, when the enemy unexpectedly and suddenly renewed the battle. After a
bloody conflict of four hours the Americans were compelled to give way. “It was by far the most obstinate fight
I ever saw,” Greene wrote to Washington. Stewart feeling insecure, for the American partisan legions were
hovering around him, retreated toward Charleston that night.
On the morning of the ninth Greene advanced and took possession of the battle-field, and sent
detachments in pursuit of Stewart. A victory was claimed by both parties. Washing